The Newman Regional Health Board of Trustees took action on two facility matters as part of its monthly meeting Wednesday.
Board members approved a request from Emporia State to hold off on vacating the university’s nursing department out of Cora Miller Hall through the end of 2025. Hospital CEO Bob Wright says the move reflects a change in timeline for ESU as part of its reinvestment plans.
ESU was initially planning to renovate a building on its own campus, but plans to build a new facility as part of its reinvestment campaign prompted the university to request a longer stay at the hospital.
Separately, the board also approved the purchase of the building and fixed assets at 1000 Lincoln, currently the administrative office for CrossWinds Counseling and Wellness. CrossWinds has used the address as its main office space for years as part of a long-term lease, but Wright says the lease involved the land, not the building or other fixed assets.
The $807,500 purchase will lead to the hospital’s hospice department moving in over the next few years. Eventually, the hospice department may have to move again if the hospital’s plans to build a new patient tower on top of the emergency department come to fruition. The building would become a parking lot at that point.
